Similarly Godfrey's secret marriage to a drunken wife and his pursuit of another woman violates societies strict moral codes. "[Gentlemen] wouldn't think of using their (so called) power for undeserving goals more than they would endure themselves to forget strict self-control" (Arriaga). Through the brothers' deceitfulness, scandals, and abuse of power they create a contradictory to the ideal image of the Victorian gentleman. In the end Dunstan's inevitable death becomes the result of his malicious behavior. Godfrey on the other hand strives for gentility and reaches new heights as a noble and honest man following his confession of his previous marriage to his new wife Nancy. Through Eliot's manipulation of Dunstan and Godfrey's character and her use of realism during the novel, she cleverly reveals an important and realistic theme that exposes the true nature of many "gentlemen" during the Victorian age.

             Another theme and social issue the Cass brothers along with Silas Marner introduce during the novel is that of social class separation. "Different social classes can be distinguished by inequalities in such areas as power, authority, wealth, working and living conditions, lifestyles, life-span, education, religion, and culture" (Cody). Silas is a depiction of almost all these inadequacies together, while Dunstan and Godrey represent the typical "upper class". "It came to pass that those scattered linen-weavers (Silas Marner)-emigrants from the town into the country-were to the last regarded as aliens" (Eliot, 4). Marner's lifestyle and poverty have caused his isolation from the community of Raveloe. Along with his unusual living conditions Marner is scrutinized through his religious persecutions. His excommunication with the church creates a greater separation for himself from the rest of society. Marner's lack of power and authority makes him a prime target for ridicule, loneliness, and a means of profit.